Community Lounge, Introductions and General Discussion Discussion, Cars you'd love to own, but are afraid to buy. (lets be realistic) in General Discussion; Also, 300ZX Twin Turbo
I've heard that the non-turbo model 300zx is actually a lot easier on your wallet and ...

Re: Cars you'd love to own, but are afraid to buy. (lets be realistic)

Also, 300ZX Twin Turbo

I've heard that the non-turbo model 300zx is actually a lot easier on your wallet and pretty reliable. I'm still skeptical about that, because there is about two competent mechanics in Nashville that know how to work on these things, so you know its $$$ to keep one on the road in tip-top shape. Which is why you see so many of these poor things ragged out by some 20 year old punk who can't afford to keep it running right.

Re: Cars you'd love to own, but are afraid to buy. (lets be realistic)

Yeah, they really have that 3.0 V6 shoe horned in there. Not something I would want to have to deal with. I've always like the 300ZX with the pop up lights, especially the last few years of them when they cleaned them up and made them sleeker looking. There's more room in the previous body style too.

Re: Cars you'd love to own, but are afraid to buy. (lets be realistic)

Originally Posted by mhamilton

ga_etc, I don't think you'd have a bad time with the w126 series cars. They were the last of the 'real' Mercedes, very tank-like in construction and fairly easy to service. There actually wasn't all that much complexity to them, at least by comparison to the next series.

It's not the fear of it constantly breaking, it's the fear of what it would cost to fix it when it does. I'm not at the point in my life right now where I can own one of these machines, but I will have one eventually.

Re: Cars you'd love to own, but are afraid to buy. (lets be realistic)

Boy, that Mercedes looks like a money pit! Who cares if it's built like a vault, and that weighs about the same, if getting a heater blower fixed costs $1500. and the rest of repairs go up from there. The only way to own a Mercedes is buy one new and get an extended "bumper to bumper" warranty. Then enjoy the prestige and exclusivity you think it brings you ....... and sell it as soon as the warranty runs out!

Mercedes-Benz should have as their slogan "Luxury it's all in your head!"

Re: Cars you'd love to own, but are afraid to buy. (lets be realistic)

My biggest one would be an F-body. I'd love to own one, but I'd be afraid to buy it not for the maintenance costs, but because I know I'd be inclined to beat the piss out of it and it would likely get me in trouble.

Re: Cars you'd love to own, but are afraid to buy. (lets be realistic)

Originally Posted by orconn

Boy, that Mercedes looks like a money pit! Who cares if it's built like a vault, and that weighs about the same, if getting a heater blower fixed costs $1500. and the rest of repairs go up from there. The only way to own a Mercedes is buy one new and get an extended "bumper to bumper" warranty. Then enjoy the prestige and exclusivity you think it brings you ....... and sell it as soon as the warranty runs out!

Mercedes-Benz should have as their slogan "Luxury it's all in your head!"

For me, it's really not the Mercedes "prestige". I just like them. I think it's a timeless design and like you said, they're built like a vault.

Re: Cars you'd love to own, but are afraid to buy. (lets be realistic)

Originally Posted by ga_etc

For me, it's really not the Mercedes "prestige". I just like them. I think it's a timeless design and like you said, they're built like a vault.

And added to that, there is nothing else like sitting behind the wheel of that car, with a half-mile of gleaming hood topped by the 3-pointed star (somewhere out on the horizon lol). Much like driving an old Lincoln or Cadillac. The newer Mercs don't have that kind of feeling, unfortunately.

I'm actually starting to think I might like to have a late '80s w126. Loved the '89 black 420SEL my aunt had, would have bought that car from her if I had the money when she sold it. They sure stand out in a way the new cars never will.

Re: Cars you'd love to own, but are afraid to buy. (lets be realistic)

The last sentence says a lot about the car! "or may trade for a toyota camry"
False or true, Toyota is famous to be reliable and cheap to maintain. When someone wants to trade a MB SEL for a Toyota, you can imagine what kind of money pit the car has been and how much the owner has been pissed off by the costs that now he is trying to buy an stupid, but cheap and reliable car....

Re: Cars you'd love to own, but are afraid to buy. (lets be realistic)

Originally Posted by ben.gators

The last sentence says a lot about the car! "or may trade for a toyota camry"
False or true, Toyota is famous to be reliable and cheap to maintain. When someone wants to trade a MB SEL for a Toyota, you can imagine what kind of money pit the car has been and how much the owner has been pissed off by the costs that now he is trying to buy an stupid, but cheap and reliable car....

You're absolutely right, unfortunately. I like to try to be optimistic and think that they just have had it for a long time and want something cheaper on gas, but I'm sure it has cost them a small fortune and are just wanting to cut their loses and get rid of it, quickly. It's not working though. It's been on there for a while.

Originally Posted by mhamilton

And added to that, there is nothing else like sitting behind the wheel of that car, with a half-mile of gleaming hood topped by the 3-pointed star (somewhere out on the horizon lol). Much like driving an old Lincoln or Cadillac. The newer Mercs don't have that kind of feeling, unfortunately.

I'm actually starting to think I might like to have a late '80s w126. Loved the '89 black 420SEL my aunt had, would have bought that car from her if I had the money when she sold it. They sure stand out in a way the new cars never will.

I'm sure you're right. I've deliberately never test driven one of these cars for fear I would fall in love and have to buy one. If I had one though, I would have to go all out and get the 560 SEL. It's just one of those cars, where if you're going to step up to one, you might as well go ahead and get the biggest and the baddest. Buy the right one the first time.

Re: Cars you'd love to own, but are afraid to buy. (lets be realistic)

The E38 7 isn't really that bad. I've owned a few, plus my 2003 Range Rover which uses mostly similar running gear and the problems on all of them are about the same. My first 2000 740iL was not properly maintained so it needed valve guide seals due to a puff of white smoke when it was started cold. That was entirely due to poor maintenance rather than any fault of the car itself. Otherwise, they are known to develop a coolant leak in the valley of the engine, they like to go through valve cover gaskets, and that's really about all I remember being wrong with them. This applies specifically to the 4.4L from 1996 to 2001 (2005 in the RR). The replacement in the E6x 7 Series is no where near as bulletproof.

However, BMW's strongsuit is actually their inline sixes. So while fixing things on the 750iL V12 generally can cost twice as much, the engine is even more stout than the V8 because it's essentially just two straight sixes mated together.